Scientific Name
Carya cordiformis
This is one of the coldest hardy North American hickories and arguably the most widely distributed of them. Its native habitat encompasses most of the eastern U.S. and reaches as far northeast as the Montreal, Quebec area. It’s part of a group of so-called pecan hickories that have narrower but more numerous leaflets than the so-called “true hickories” such as shellbark and shagbark. This is not the longest-lived hickory of its kind, averaging a lifespan of a mere 200 years!
Bitternut hickory at maturity can reach a height of more than 100 feet, though that is not expected to happen here. At present the tallest of this species in Colorado is 38 feet, and the tallest of any other hickory species in Colorado is only 67 feet. Still, hickories have historically been infrequently planted here, so it could be a surprise someday by how tall one grows. The bitternut has compound leaves 6 to 12 inches long consisting of seven to 11 leaflets; the end leaf is seldom much larger than the others, a feature of the pecan hickories. With the narrower foliage, the bitternut has a finer texture than the shagbark or shellbark hickory. Some people have compared its appearance to that of ash trees, though the leaves are alternate on the twigs, not opposite like ash foliage. Like most hickories, the fall color is bright yellow. The bark is gray and shallowly furrowed. A unique identifying feature of this tree is the narrow yellow winter buds not covered by overlapping scales. True to its name, the nuts of this tree are extremely bitter and are often the last dietary resort of wildlife. The nuts are enclosed in a thin four-seamed husk. This is possibly the fastest growing hickory of the Carya genus, but its use in urban forestry has been hampered by its reputation for being difficult to transplant.